311tou1lautuno.

The Commissioners appointed by her Majesty on the 12th of April last, to inquire into the effect of the system recommended in the report of the Royal Commission dated the. 17th June 1854, and into the question of promotion and retirement in the higher ranks of the 'army, commencing with the rank of Major, have just reported (in a blue book) the result of their serious deliberations.

The Commissioners feel bound to state that, so far as a recourse to the Colonels' list for'the purpose of finding efficient men for responsible coin- .

mend is concerned, the necessity for so doing has by no means passed away in the interval which has elapsed since 1854. They think the Commander- in-chief has acted for the good of the service in selecting Colonels for tom- niand under the authority of the warrant of 1854. - As regard the change made in 1854, by which aeserving Colonels might be promoted to the rank of Major-General, irrespective of their seniority, under certain safeguards and conditions, the Commissioners admit the complaint that it presses hardly on Colonels who on attaining that rank expect to-rise in succession to that Of Major-General, as a reward for past services; and they therefore recommend that all Colonels promoted to be Major-Gerieralaafter five years' employment in responsible command with the temporaryrank ofMajor-General and all Colonels promoted to be Major-Generale for eminent services in the field, shall be placed on a supernumerary list of Major-Generals, and not be reckoned as part of the fixed establishment until the time when they shall have attained the rank of Major-General by seniority—i. e., until the Colonel who originally stood next senior on the Colonels' list to the officer promoted out of his turn has become a Major-General, after which the next vacancy- will be filled by the transfer of the supernumerary Major-General to the fixed establishment; and that the Major-Generals who have already been promoted out of their turn, and would not yet have succeeded to the rank by seniority, shall be considered as coming under this rule, but that they shall be specially allowed to retain the pay of 25s. per day which they acquired on being originally placed on the fixed establishment. But this arrangement is in no wise in- tended to diminish the advantages enjoyed by Major-Generals specially pro- moted, but merely to prevent their promotion from delaying that of officers standing above them in the list of Colonels. The supernumerary Major- Generals should therefore (it is suggested) when absorbed into the fixed es-

tablishm es-

tablishment still .preserve the seniority which they acquired when, after a period of qualifying service with temporary rank, they where first confirmed as permanent Major-Generals on the supernumerary list, and will rise by that seniority to be Lieutenaut-Generals in succession:General officerspromoted for distinguished services in the field will take their seniority from the date of their promotion. To the supernumerary list the Commissioners decline to assign a fixed limit, but they opine that, as a general rule, the power of; appointing Colonels as temporary Major-Generals should be exercised as sparingly as possible in time of peace, and never without the greatest care and consideration. The report next reviews the change so much com- plained of—namely, that by which a Lieutenant-Colenel commanding a battalion or holding certain equivalent staff appointments for three years becames a full Colonel, unless shown to be unfit. The Commissioners think it a pity that the special brevet given in June 1854, was not extended to all the Lieutenant-Colonels dating prior to the 201-h of June 1854. As regards the relief to be afforded to these aggrieved officers (115 in number,) it M thought by the Commissioners that of two alternatives—namely, al- lowing the operation of the warrant on the Lieutenant-Colonels of 1854 to remain intact, or replacing the Lieutenant-Colonels passed over on the list of Colonels according to their original seniority—the ad ton of the latter will entail less hardship and inconvenience. `Die original error should be rectified by granting and antedating an extension of the brevet given in 1854, BO as to embrace all the Lieutenant-Colonels who held that rank prior to the 20th of June 1854. Having thus endeavoured to remove the hardship entailed on then existing interests by the operation of the warrant of 1854, and believing that the principle of that warrant is sound and indispensable to the effi- ciency of the higher ranks of the army, the Commissioners propose to leave it undisturbed as regards the future, although some modifications to facili- tate and simplify its working are recommended. And they lay down cer- tain principles by which they think its application should be restricted. It thought [hid the number of general officers for the Guards and the Line, tired by the warrant at 100 officers on unattached pay, in addition to ehe Colonels of regiments, 234 in all, is not now sufficient, and it is suggested that the establishment should be increased by appointing Colonels to the three new regiments which have been lately raised, and by adding 23 to the number of general officers receiving unattached pay, making the whole establishment 260, vice 234. The list so augmented is to consist of 50 Generals, 80 Lieutenant-Generals, and 130 Major-Generals. The fixed establishment of general officers for the Artillery and the Engineers is to be 48, as now. The proposed increase in the number of general officers is con- sidered equitable in itself, due to the interest of the army, and necessary to the efficiency of the service. The Commiesioners fully concur with the view of the HODM) Guards, Mom. as to the restrictions whioh ought to be placed for the future On brevet promotions—i.e. on the conversion of Brevet into substantive rank ; but the principle proposed by the Horse Guards is the original idea of the Commissioners of 1854. Conspicuously distinguished conduct in the field " will be, among other things, a sins qui eon as a qualification for promotion from-brevet to substantive rank. It is recommended that certain distinguished Brevet-Majors, (created Since 18540 if reduced to half-pay, stall ho placed on half-pay as Majors, or, if on full- pay, be indemnified by receiving an increase of 2s. 6d. per day while con- tinuing in oommand of their companies. Captains and brevet-field-officers of this class, commanding troops of cavalry, would be also allowed and ad- ditional 2s. Sri. per day. Regimental Majors of all arms who have been made Brevet-Colonels under similar circumstances may be nealt with on similar principles, and receive is. a day. No Lieutenant-Colonel should be promoted by Brevet to a Colonelcy, except under the conditions and safe- guards laid down to meet the oases of promotion to substantive rank. It is thought, in the ease of engineer officers employed in civil situations, that eight years of military service should be required to qualify them for the rank of Colonel. The Commissioners do not appear to think that the warrant of 1854 has been long enough in force to allow them to judge of its operation upon the promotion in the Guards. They reject the suggestion to shorten from six to five years the period of service as a field-officer required to qualify for un- attached pay in the ease of a'Major-General. They also refuse to counte- nance the abolition of Lientenant:Colonekies and the creation of a new per- manent rank of Brigadier-General with increased half-pay. To induce retirement on full-pay, it is suggested that Colonels and Lieutenant- Colonels accepting suoh retirement should receive 20s., vice 17s. per diem, as now ; and they think that, as a general rule, no Colonel should be al- lowed to retain the command of a regiment after sixty years of age, unless reported to the Horse Guards as efficient. Such are the salient points of the Report of the Royal Commission.- It is signed " Sidney Herbert, George (the Duke of Cambridge), Newcastle, Grey, Panmure, Rokeby Ed- ward Ellice, J. Yorke Searlett, W. F. Williams, .T. M. F. Smith, H. K. Storks, and Henry Eyre."

In hisQuarterly return of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, the Regis- trar-General comments, with his accustomed acuteness, upon the state of the public health. In April, May, and June 107,193 persons died, or 22-06 per thousand, slightly below the average rate, which is 22-25. In 63 of the least unhealthy districts the average death rate is 16-1-3d per thousand, but the actual rate was 6 in excess—therefore 27,355 persons died "unnatural deaths."

"Upon dividing the population into two portions (1), the 8,247,017 people living in rather close proximity to each other, and (2) the 9,680,592 living much further apart, the result is that the mortality in the dense districts was at the rate of 24-73—nearly 2.5 in a thousand.; while in the other districts over which small towns and villages are distributed the mortality was at the rate of 19-68, nearly 20 in 1000 of the population. In the town districts the rate of mortality was 8, in the rest of the country: 3 in 1000 above the rate which actually rules in comparatively healthy districts. Of the 27,35:5 unnatural deaths, 18,668 took place in the large town districts ; 8687 in other places."

Population Increases rapidly in towns. In the spring the mortality in the country decreased, that in the towns rose. Formerly "our towns were no better than uncleanaed camps in the middle ages ; and London in the seventeenth century lost 50 in 1000, or, including the plague years, 80 in 1000 of its inhabitants annually. The black death, sweating sickness, and „plague followed each other in suocession. The mortality of London was re- duced to the rate of 29 in 1000 at the beginning of this century ; 3ivili- ration advanced; and in the fifteen years 1840-'54, the rate further fell to 23, still remaining 10 in 1000 above the calculated healthy rate for London. All the towns of the kingdom in the aggregate gave up proportionally this number of victims in the last three months. They were not destroyed openly. The poison by which they. died was not purchased in chemists' shops. It was administered in the silence of the night, and in the streets at noon-day, either, with the air which they breathed, or with theweter which they drink."' The Registrar-General shows that a decrease in the rate of mortality has followed every attempt to live more cleanly, and he points out that much restains to be done tceelear away—" 1: Impurities of dwell- ings; 2. -Irnpinitami of streets.anct gullies ; 3. Impurities of the Thames. . . . . England iii in sanitary science" Mid sit taking the lead in Europe, and teachineinipisetant lessons to all tuitions. But the work must be con- summated. "'The mortality Mud be reduced. The people must be animated onew. by the energies of health. And public men will find that some glory may be gained by seeing life--'by ereat sanitary, works. Horioor will crown those who rescue the Engliiili ..eaoe from pains*sieknesse ande4egenerecy. - They will for ever enjoy the tiatisfactiori'd having (lane their duty."

A A notification in the Gem& of Tuesday suspends the calling eut of the _following regiments of militia for the present year : Argyll and Bute Rifles, .the Edinbursh, or Queen's Regiment of Light Infantry, Edinburgh Artil- lery, Fifeshire Artillery, Perthshire Rifles, Renfrewshire. The latest advices frem the West Indies state that "all English men-of- war have been withdrawn from the coast of Cuba with the exception of the Devastation, with Commodore Kellett on board, which was cruising off Ha- vannah with a few cases of fever."

Mr. Edward Pease—the father of the first Quaker admitted to Parliament --died on Saturday evening, in his house at Darlington, at the great age of ninety-two. He stood at the head of four generations. He retained his faculties to the last, and sat up late writing letters, only three nights before Ile' died.

Mr. Stevenson, a Commissioner of the Excise, and Deputy-Ranger of :Hyde Parkedied suddenly on Monday.

M. Alexis Soyer, so famous for his labours in the art of gastronomy, died saddenly on Thudday night. As one of those who have greatly contributed to break down the- absurd and wasteful system so common in English lteitcheni, and to train up a class of cooks whose knowledge extends further than the common feat of boiling "a thousand pounds of meat a hundred hours to make one basin of broth," M. Soyer is worthy of mention and re- ;mt. We believe, too, that the military kitchens which he superintended in the Crimea were eminently successful, and that his memory will linger,

associated with the recollection of many a well-cooked meal, in the mind of the British soldier.

M. Benoit FouId, the celebrated banker, and brother of Achille Fould, Minister of State, died on the 29th July in Paris.

The Russian painter Tranoff, founder of the modern Muscovite school of art, has just died at St. Petersburg. He devoted twenty years to his great, effort, "The Preaching of St. John in in the Wilderness."

Lord Stratford de Redeliffe goes with his family to Constantinople, on the 20th.instant, to take leave of the Sultan. His lordship and Lady Stratford de *deli& propose to winter in Rome.

Lord Lyoni gave a dinner on Tuesday on board the Royal Albert, in honour of the Duke of Malakoff. Sir John Pakington and the Lords of the Admiralty were present. The Duke sat between his host and Sir John.

The Earl of Aberdeen and the Honourable Arthur Gordon left town on Saturday for Haddo House, N.B., for the season.

It is generally understood that the community of Jews resident in Lon- don intend to mark their sense of the obligations they owe to this nobleman by presenting to Lady John Russell a boudoir suite, consisting of a table and four chairs composed of solid silver.—Morning lost.

The Queen has appointed Mr. David Erskine to be her 3Iajesty's Consul in the island of Madeira.

Arrangements for the Red Sea telegraph line to India have at length been positively concluded and the terms are such as to leave no doubt that the capital will be immediately obtained. A new prospectus, issued by the company this afternoon, states that the Government have granted a guarantee of 4i per cent for 50 years. The portion of the line between Alexandria and Aden is first to be constructed, and the nominal amount proposed to be subscribed is 800,000/. in shares of 20/. each. Messrs. Newell and Co. are ready, however, to undertake the work at their own risk at a fixed price which will leave about 300,000/. of this capital untouched-. The guaranteed interest is to commence immediately and to be paid half- yearly upon whatever amount may be paid up. If the revenue of the line should exeeed 4i per cent the surplus is to be appropriated as follows :—One- third to repay any advance of interest made by the Government, one-third to form a reserve fund up to 80,0001., and the remainder to increase the dividend of the shareholders up to 10 per cent, after which the Government are to have a discretionary power to reduce the tariff or to apply the excess to create a fund for the redemption of the guarantee. The Government allowance of interest will not be affected by any casualties that may happen to the line. Supposing its repair or renewal to become necessary the company would have the power to call up the unused portion of their capital of 800,000/., upon which, in addition to that already paid up, an allowance of 4i per cent from the Government would then come into opera- tion, and also to appropriate to the purpose any amount of reserve that might have accumulated. Should these means prove inadequate and the Company fail to regstablish an efficient communication, the Government may take the enterprise into their own hands by paying off the shareholders at par. The board includes members of the leading East India firms, and two ex-officio Directors are to be appointed by the Treasury.—Times, City Article.

At the same time it is clear that the Government contemplates the prospect of supporting the telegraphic line from Constantinople to the Persian Gulf.

The plague has broken out at Bengazi in Tripoli ; and no wonder. It is a place well known to be "filthy in the extreme." The towns in the Mediter- ranean have taken the alarm and the ships communicating.with Alexandria-, Tripoli, Malta, and other places are subjected to quarantine.

Doggett's coat and badge, was rowed for on Monday by six watermen, and won by Charles John Turner of Rotherhithe. John Charles Young of Woolwich, who at one time appeared to be winning was capsized, never- theless he made the third place. A vast number of persons witnessed the contest.

Returns presented to Parliament touching the Income-tax show some in- teresting facts. In England and Wales, in 1856-1857, the sum total of 261,069,6801. was assessed to the Income-tax under the various schedules. The amount assessed in Scotland was 30,498,404/. The total property as- sessed to the tax in Ireland in 1856-57 was 21,488,343/. In 1856-'57, 258,880 persons were assessed in Great Britain under schedule D., and 87,498 under schedule E. Under schedule D., 20,348 persons had incomes under 100/. a year ; 120,650 under 150!.; 40,086 under 2001: • .32,665.under 300!.; 15,006 under 400!.; 7407 under 5001.; 5471 under 660/. ; 3105 un- der 700!.; 2066 under 800/. • 1743 under.9d0/. ; 816 under 1000/. ; 5423 under 2040/. • 1568 under 3040/. ; 773 under_ 4000!.; 450 under 50001.; and 811 between '50001. and 10,0001.; 444 persons rejoiced in the possession of incomes ranging from 10,000/. to 50,000/. a year, and 46 were so supremely blessed as,to figure for ineemes of 50,0001. A year "and upwards."

It appears that for the hat four s ears (ending the 31st of March 18481 'there ha k ,,'been ate excess of expenditisre over income of 6,196,808/.,

22,723,854l.; 3,254,604e end 2,497,346/. respectively. - ' • Difrieg the 'year ending the 25th"Of March 1857, the sum of 5,89066/. was eepended for the relief of paupers, against' tile Loma of 6,004,2441. In the _preceding year, thus exhibiting a decrease of 104,08/., 'or elll'idet• ant. „,The latgest &crease occurred in Notts; Seffolk, Hbneferd; Bedfcad, Dorset, ;Leicester, Surrey,'-(metropolitan,) and Eruit Yorkshire; Wchild- the largest increase was in Kent; (metropolitan,) Durham, Chmberland; and South Wales.

The duty paid by London fire-offices during the year 1857 was 887,4101. The sums paid vary from 195,668/. to 27/. Tim country offices paid 382,533/. The highest sum paid by one office was 78,3011.; the lowest 2311. The Scotch offices paid 89,5361.

According to a statement by Mr. James Low, the shipments of specie to the East during the past half-year amounted to 3,593,3911., of which only 148,674/. was gold. As compared with the corresponding period of last year a falling-off is thus shown of 7,0126491. Of these shipments 3,001,6461. was from Great Britain, and 591,745/., from Marseilles and other Mediterrne nean ports.

The colonists of Victoria hove discovered a " native variety of the silk- worm." It is found in "countless swarms." The worm is enclosed in a dark-coloured cocoon, the exterior of which is of extraordinary toughness, and encloses a quantity of yellowish silk. The staple of this, both as re- gards its fineness and length, has, it is said, been pronounced by a manufac- turing house in Glasgow, by whom it was tested, superior to the product of the best European worms.

Mahogany is now coining into use as a material for ship-building. A Frenchman has made some experiments to test its strength which he eon- eiders to prove conclusively that it is stronger than teak or oak, under a di- rect strain.